During the early 90's, I had gone through an ugly divorce. I had loved Jean for 13 years, but she was cheating on me and I could no longer put up with it. Enough about that. Early in our marriage, my wife's sister, Betty, became divorced when her no good husband walked out on her to move back to Arkansas because he decided he was still in love with his former girlfriend, even though he and Betty had a 5 year old daughter, Tera. We had a young son and they looked like they could be brother and sister. Both were blond headed, blue eyed and looked very similar. They lived with us for two years, during which time my wife had another boy, then one day, Betty asks us if we could watch Tera for a while because she's going to Reno to apply for a job there she heard about. We said sure, figuring a while would be a few days. Wrong.
Almost two weeks later, we get a call from my mother-in-law, saying Betty called her, asking her to call us and say that she didn't get that job but was hoping to get this other one that could pay even more. The second job wasn't in Reno but in a small town south of there. Then the phone calls to her mother became further and further spread apart and before we really realized it, four years had passed. We had grown to love Tera like our own daughter. She called me Poppy and my wife Mom2. Hell, I was claiming her on my income tax and wasn't getting any help from anybody, even though I knew Betty was getting child support from her ex sent to her mom's, who would forward it to a P.O. Box. I had asked for box number so I could write to her but her mother refused, saying Betty didn't want anyone to have it.
Then one day, Betty shows up with this scruffy looking guy in an old pickup and tells Tera to pack her things, no warning, no phone call, nothing. Just shows up after over four years and demands her daughter back. Betty says she had just married this guy and he has inherited his grandfather's cabin and property about 25 miles southeast of Roseburg, Oregon and she'll send us the address when she finds out what it is. This guy wouldn't even get out of his truck to say hello or help pack. Tera had her own room at our house and a large collection of stuffed animals, toys and dolls. Betty brought in a big trash bag and was throwing most of them away, telling Tera she was getting too big for them now.
She was 11, I had purchased 11 out of a set of 19 Porcelain collectors dolls for Tera, one for every birthday to her 18th and then one for her wedding, the balance to be charged to my credit card automatically every year. Thankfully my Jean had saved the boxes the dolls came in and we repackaged them for the trip. I had spent almost $300 on oak to build 3 sets of display shelves for her dolls and we carefully took them down and as my wife and I carried them out front, this guy yells, I ain't got room for that crap. Keep it or throw it away he yelled from the cab of his truck. Tera was crying her eyes out saying she didn't want to go. Betty, paddled her butt, threw her over her shoulder and carried out to the truck, kicking and screaming. You could hear her screams all the way down the block as they drove away. We never heard from them again.
Two years later, I'm divorced after finding out about Jean and my best friend's long term affair but since I had bought the house just before we married, I was able to keep it. About six month after that, I had sold the house and purchased a nice little avocado ranch on 9 acres. I got the boys every other weekend. One weekend, Jean had her car packed with all the boys belongings and told me she was tired of their crap and it was my turn to be a full time dad. Monday, I called my lawyer and Child Services to let them know. Between working on the ranch and hitting the gym regularly, I had dropped 75 lbs. and built some nice muscle. Jean liked what she saw and asked if I'd like to go out some time and I told her no thanks. With the stuff she had pulled, I was bummed out on women, didn't date and planned on being single for a long time, at least until after the boys were gone. On the ranch, the boys had a place to ride their motorcycles and my mom had moved in and was able to take care of the boys when I had to work late or be out of town. I had opened my own architecture business after a run in with my boss over design differences and was actually finally doing pretty well.
One of my early projects was a condo / commercial project and I took the liberty of designing what I thought would be my perfect office / bachelor pad near downtown LA. It was between two buildings that angled together that otherwise would have been what I felt was wasted space. It could have been maybe a small lawn or flower bed. It turned out to be a rather dramatic wedge with 80% of the first floor to be the commercial area, which could be modified as per the tenants request with two bathrooms and provisions for computers and a TV or two, a small laundry, a kitchen with commercial appliances and a large covered enclosed patio with an in-ground hot tub. The small bit of bare earth I drew as a Japanese garden.
The second floor was the masterpiece. It was accessed by a freestanding steel stairway with Terrazzo steps. The back outer wall was triple paned reflective glass from the ground floor to roof which was 15' tall above the second floor with old time ceiling fans that looked like something out of the 20's. Brass handrails separating the second floor about 4' from the glass wall. There was a large master bedroom and the master bath had a big walk-in shower and a hydro bathtub. Next to it was a guest bedroom with an ensuite. There was also a living area with a 85" flat screen and sound system and the furniture could easily be moved back to provide about a 12 x 20 dance area for parties. If I was going to have a bachelor pad, it might as well be nice, right? There were four spots perfect on the project for these residential/offices.
Through a lot of negotiating I was able to get the board of directors to build my office / part-time residence as part of my fee. Several of bottles of booze to the right people and my building was one of the first ones up which meant one hell of a lot less commuting, more billable hours to this project, more time with prospective clients and work was picking up. Life was good. Thankfully mom was glad to step up and be there for the boys as now I was primarily only home on weekends.
Then one Monday morning as I walked up to my office door, I couldn't help but notice two beautiful young girls sitting by the pond that runs out front of my building. One was a thin blond, about 5'1", lucky to be 100 lbs., pierced earrings with large hoops and a small diamond nose piercing. She was wearing a faded red denim coat, covering a yellow blouse, obviously in need of some laundry, though she did have a fairly nice rack, Daisey Dukes, cut so short the pockets hung out below the frayed fabric ends and high top basketball shoes. She had a medium sized backpack. The other girl had dark black hair with red tips, black rings around her eyes, black lipstick and black nail polish, I couldn't count all the piercings in her ears as they went all the way around, she also had a nose ring and two lip rings, she was rather busty and was wearing a raggedy black denim jacket with a black spandex undershirt beneath. When she turned, it was obvious, she wasn't wearing a bra. She was wearing a skirt and ripped Levi's, both black and black combat boots.
I got within about 15 feet of them and the blond stood up and I stopped, there was something familiar about her but I couldn't put my finger on it. Suddenly she let out a big squeal and ran towards me, her arms held wide and yelled, "Poppy!" as she threw her arms around my neck. I held her so tightly as a torrent of tears poured down my face. Tera pulled away and seeing my tears, first using her coat sleeves to wipe my face then softly kissed the rest away.
I held her, looking at the beautiful woman my little niece had become when her friend came up next to us, dragging a duffel bag and said, "Excuse me. I hate to break up this family reunion but I really need to use your restroom. I'm about to mess myself."
Tera stepped back and said, "Poppy, sorry, uncle Tim, this is my friend, Jenni. Jenni, my uncle Tim."
"First things first!" I said as I brushed past them and unlocked the door and turned off the alarm, showing Jenni to the closest bathroom. "Tera," I asked as we walked into the kitchen, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be at home and in school?"
Tossing her backpack on the counter, then hopping up next to it, Tera sighed and said, "The bitch kicked me out." About that time, Jenni joined us.
